A couple months ago before my friend Rosellen was about to close her peace corps service she had decided she was going to take the plunge and purchase a piece from one of El Salvador's most famous painters, Miguel Angel. After pricing out some galleries she just didn't feel right about it so she decided to write the artist himself. Within days he responded and invited her out to his studio. Of course she needed a sidekick and there I was. We both were nervous as we were big fans of his and had admired his painting and spoken of him for months. And here we were being invited out to his place!
He's best known for painting faces of children with big brown eyes and carmel skin its hard not to get lost in them. The paintings show the children's innocence as well as hardship. During the civil war in El Salvador he would paint the children with a single tear. Now they are tearless but still tell a story.
His studio is not really a studio but rather an open home where all are welcome. Its call "casa taller encuentros" where he also teaches kids, youth and adults how to draw, paint, and be creative. The home is beautiful and not hard to get lost in with all its various gardens, fountains, terraces, and inspirations around every corner.
Miguel Angel is the most humble sweet talented artist. He was more interested in asking us questions about our interests in art, who are favorite artists were, what inspired us, and even asked to take photos with us on his phone. It was too funny, I was taking photos of him and his wonderland and he was taking pictures of us with our jaws open. In fact it was only after an hour and a half of walking around and chatting that Rosellen finally got him to talk about selling a piece. Its like he didn't even care about selling we commented after.
Big ups to this guy. One talented big hearted human being that I'm really glad is out here in this world. Here are the photos:
the photo on the left is another artist, on the right is a naked women who Miguel painted... hot. |
one of many sitting areas |
fresh flowers and candles everywhere I would love to see the place at night as well |
entrance to Miguel Angel's work space |
some of his works in progress hanging on the walls |
signing the back of Rosellen's painting that she too home to America |
Ros and Miguel Angel |
showing off her signed artwork. |
Me with the Artist |
exploring |
view from a terrace |
students hanging around just making art |